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Judy
Anderson "Business Coach" will
be here exclusively every month to share with you
on "How to use Golf to gain a
Competitive Edge in Business".
"IMPROVE YOUR
GAME & YOUR BUSINESS!"
JANUARY, 2001
The Mental
Game of Golf and Business
Playing
golf for business purposes can be a very
challenging experience. You’re playing a
very complex game that is one of the most
difficult sports to master. At the same time,
you’re combining it with a social
interaction that has a business objective. Focus
on the wrong thing and you can lose business or
miss an opportunity. And the stakes are even
higher! The image you project on the golf course
strongly influences how others perceive you as a
business person - and that can have a long range
effect on your business success. No wonder so
many players who feel confident and comfortable
playing with friends are intimidated by the
thought of playing with the boss or an important
client!
Successful
business golf requires that you keep your focus.
This means always remembering that you’re
playing for business purposes and not for
recreation but at the same time playing a
respectable game. You need the ability to shift
between golf and business and feel comfort with
both. The only way to master this is to have a
strong mental game.
Until
now, the mental game skills taught by sports
psychologists have been pretty generic and based
on research done in other sports. And often they
weren’t specifically tailored to the
individual. Because it was just a collection of
techniques rather than a system, it’s been
difficult for the average golfer to use the
methods and also apply them to achieving their
business objectives.
In
searching for mental game strategies that would
help business golfers keep their focus, I
discovered GolfPsych. It’s the only
golf psychology method based on scientific
research done with PGA, LPGA, and Senior PGA
pros. It’s also the only organized mental
game system that’s tailored to the
individual’s personality and needs.
The
research concluded that there are eight
personality traits that separate the frequent
winners from the pros who only win occasionally.
Although none of the pros were naturally in the
Champion range on all eight traits, they’d
learned to adapt their behaviors so they could think
like winners. They have above average ability
to concentrate and focus, and have learned to
control their thoughts and manage their tension.
They also prepare mentally for each round and are
confident about both themselves and their
performance capability.
All
of this translates directly to business golf --
and beyond that, to business in general. Learning
a specific mental game system can improve your
golf score and can also lead to peak performance
in business!! In his new book, Catchfire
(1998, Ballantine Books), Peter McLaughlin
identifies seven steps to top performance in
business. Step 1 is "Mastering Your
Mind."
McLaughlin
believes that the key to thriving in today’s
competitive, stressful business environment is
the ability to maintain focus and manage
emotions. He adds that many people don’t
consider this a business skill but few things
have greater impact on your overall performance.
Without an awareness of your mind-set and the
ability to monitor it, you "can become
caught up in the hectic stream of events. You
lose your sense of calm, confidence and presence
and work yourself into a mental state of anger or
tension that detracts from your ability to
perform."
Although
he’s talking about what holds us back from
peak performance in business, McLaughlin’s
words also apply to golf and business golf. The
mental skills he identifies as critical to
business success are basically the same ones that
apply in golf! Focusing on score, holding on to a
bad shot, letting slow play or other players
upset you, or worrying about whether you should
let the client win can all increase your tension
and cause you to play poorly and also perform
poorly in your business golf interaction.
Developing
strong mental game skills in golf can help you
both on and off the course. The skills you
acquire - focus, tension management, decision
making, setting goals and committing to them,
being proactive, and thinking intuitively - will
definitely help you lower your score, achieve
your business golf goals, and can also lead to
peak performance in business.
Bruce
Crampton, who in 1986 was named Player of the
Year by several publications because he won seven
events and finished first on the money list, said
"Golf is more in your mind then in your
clubs." Still many recreational and business
golfers focus only on swing mechanics and
equipment and neglect their mental game.
Mastering the mental game of golf can lower your
handicap and enjoy the game more. It can also
help you improve your bottom line in business.
Developing the traits that set the champions
apart can help you move to your next level of
success -- in golf and in business!
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Do you want to Improve your
Golf & Business?
Ask Judy for FREE advice and she will e-mail you
an answer.
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Judy
Anderson is the founder of Business Golf
Unlimited and the author of "Teeing
Off to the Green" & "Using
Golf as a Business Tool". Through
her speaking and coaching, she has helped
countless executives improve their golf
game and gain a competitive edge in business.
Her programs have been featured at
the Greater New York Golf Show, the Northville
Long Island Classic and First of America Classic
Senior PGA Tour events, and at the PGA's Quad
City Classic. Clients have included, Merrill
Lynch, the National Alliance of Sales and
Marketing Executives, United Cerebral Palsy, the
National Association of Female Executives, and
the World Sponsors Forum.
Judy and Business Golf Unlimited
have been featured in the New York Times,
National Business Employment Weekly, Selling
Power, Executive Female and Golf Digest
magazines. She has been a guest on numerous tv
and radio shows, including CNBC Money Talk, The
Business News Network, and Smart Money with the
Dolans.
Her 20 years experience in post
secondary education, human resources, sales and
consulting, plus undergraduate degree in
business, graduate degrees in counseling
psychology and certification in GolfPsych ® give
her the saavy to use golf to help you identify
and address the challenges facing you in today's
workplace.
Business
Golf Unlimited is a
company dedicated to developing individuals and
organizations through golf. We offer a variety of
speaking and coaching
services. Judy Anderson and Brian
McMahon are committed to helping you
reach your true potential, in golf and, through
golf, in business.
How
to contact:
Business Golf
Unlimited
42253 Parkside Circle Suite 105
Sterling Heights, MI 48314
Phone 810-739-8506
Fax 810-739-9012
e-mail:Judy@BizGolf.com
Visit
Business Golf Unlimited
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